Ombudsman suspends Boracay village chief

 The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has slapped a two-month suspension order against the village chief of Barangay Yapak, Boracay.

Ace Azarcon, Aklan provincial director of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), said the suspension order will be in effect until April 10, 2014.

"We had received the suspension order and we forwarded a copy of which to the local government of Malay. The local government in turn served the copy to the office of Hector Casidsid, the suspended village chief," said Azarcon.

A private citizen complained against Casidsid for misconduct after the latter used a private property without permission on dumping wastes of the village. The case was filed two years ago.

Because of this, the DILG warned residents to temporarily refrain from transacting business with Casidsid because this may be deemed illegal.

"We also encourage Casidsid to file a counter charge against the complainant if he feels doing it," said Azarcon.

Gaming firm wants poker for Boracay

The Sangguniang Bayan of Malay, Aklan will study the proposal of a gaming firm based in Metro Manila establishing a poker facility in this resort island.

This developed after the Azur Poker and Gaming Corporation had written to the local council its intent to operate a poker facility here.

Malay Vice Mayor Wilbec Gelito said that the council upon receiving the letter referred it to the committee on tourism to study the proposal.

"After which, we expect the deliberation during regular council sessions," said Gelito.

For several years,this resort island has received offers from different gaming firms for the establishment of a casino facility but these had been rejected by the Catholic church.(

Forum shopping in a land registration case dismissed

The Kalibo Regional Trial Court Branch 7 presided by Judge Domingo Casiple Jr junked a land registration case for forum shopping.

The court found that one of the petitioner in Land Registration Case No. 512 titled "Eric B. Vargas representing all the heirs of Escolastico Vargas and, Sanny E. Alonsagay representing the heirs of Anselmo Ambay versus Fil Estate Properties Inc (FEPI) Et. Al.", was among the petitioners in the petition for cancellation dated May 26, 2006 filed before the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Respondents in the DENR case, with the exception of Rosalia Gonzales Sarabia are the same respondents in the instant cause (LRC 512).

Respondent Josel D. Tirol Jr. represented by Jessica Tirol-Andan claimed that petitioners admit the pendency of the DENR case.

Petitioners, represented by Atty. Axel Gonzales, claimed ignorance of the DENR case alleging that the same may not have been filed. Also, petitioners claimed that there is no identity of parties, identity of rights or causes of action and identity as to the relief sought. Petitioners also alleged that the lot subject of DENR case is merely 18 hectares which the instant case, the case sought to be cancelled is more than 300 hectares located at Boracay Island.

The court cited the case in the Municipality of Taguig vs Court of Appeals, 489 SCRA 588 (2005) that forum shopping exists, when as a result of an adverse opinion in one forum, a party seeks a favorable opinion (other than by appeal or certiorari) in another, or when he institutes two or more actions or proceedings grounded on the same cause on the grounds that one or the other would make a favorable disposition.

The court emphasized that forum shopping can be committed in three ways as cited in Aoas vs Court of Appeals 1.) by filing multiple cases based on the same cause of action and with the same prayer, the previous case not having been resolved yet (where the ground for dismissal is litis pendentis); 2.) by filing multiple cases based on the same cause of action and with the same prayer, the previous case having been finally resolved (where the ground for dismissal is res judicata); and 3) by filing multiple cases based on the same cause of action but with different prayers (splitting of case of action, where the ground  for dismissal is also either litis pendentia or resjudicate).

The court further cited the Supreme Court ruling in Philippine Pharmawealth, Inc vs Pfizer, 635 SCRA 140 (2010) when it said: "It is worth noting that forum shopping exists not only when two cases are pending before different courts but also when two similar cases are filed with the court and another in an agency or quasi-judicial body or tribunal."

There is likewise identity of interest in both the DENR case and the case before Branch 7 of the regional trial court.

In dismissing the Land Registration case involving the land inherited by respondents in Boracay Isand covered by OCT No. 18853, the court, cited certain Supreme Court doctrines against forum shopping when it asserted: "forum shopping could be cited by the other party as a ground to ask for summary or dismissal of the two (or more) complaints or petitions, and for the impositions of the other sanctions, which are direct contempt of court, criminal prosecution, and disciplinary action against the erring lawyer.'

In the dismissed order dated January 8, 2014, Judge Casiple also denied the petitioners motion to litigate as indigent litigations. The court noted that certain petitioners have considerable income from real properties they own. Moreover, the court had noted that a settlement for Belyn Holdings in Civil Case No. 8203, petitioners, and admitted by their counsel, have previously received P11,000,000.00. There is still a supposed balance of P66,000,000.00 from Belyn Holdings of UCPB and are not indigent litigants in contemplation of the Rules of Court as petitioners had earlier claimed. The motion of petitioners failed to substantiate and comply with the income and property requirements as would allow a party to litigate as indigent litigant and to exempt payment of docket and other administrative fees.

Marine expert urges local government to go slow on Boracay demolition

A marine expert coming from the Coastal Ecosystems Conservation and Adaptive Management (CECAM) urged the local government of Malay, Aklan to go slow with the ongoing series of demolitions of illegal structures in this resort island.

Dr. Miguel Fortes, project manager of CECAM, said that the series of demolitions may have an effect in the environment of Boracay in the long run.

It was learned that debris gathered by the local government from the demolitions were dumped at the beach front and washed out into the sea during high tide.

Several tourists also reported having been injured by debris.

"Among the possible effects to Boracay of the ongoing demolition is the discoloration of the pristine white sand beach of Boracay. We also recommend that the local government should just dump the debris in one location," Fortes said.

The local government of Malay has promised to study the proposal of Fortes.

German cruise chip cancels Boracay visit

The MS Deutschland, a German based International cruise ship, cancelled its scheduled trip to this resort island because of the typhoon that hit Taiwan recently.

This was bared by Niven Maquirang who is Caticlan jetty port administrator.

"The MS Deutschland which is supposed to arrive in Boracay February 7 has been cancelled because of the typhoon. There is no definite schedule yet as to when will the trip resume," said Maquirang.

The MS Deutschland was supposed to bring 367 German nationals, few Australians and Filipinos together with some 300 crews to Boracay.

However, other international cruise ships such as the MS Europa 2 is scheduled to arrive here Saturday. Another Cruise Ship the MS Costa Rica is also set to arrive before the month of February ends.

This year at least six more international cruise ships are expected to arrive in this resort island.

Reefbuds Artificial technology eyed to replicate in the US

The Mote Marine Laboratory, one of the prominent research laboratories in the United States of America (USA), has started to conduct deeper evaluation of the efficacy of the Reefbud Artificial technology for possible use.

Jojo Rodriguez of the Sangkalikasan Producers Cooperative (SPC) said that the US firm got interested in the technology after observing and surveying reefbud sites in Anilao, Batangas and in Boracay.

"The SPC has installed 5,000 reefbuds along the damaged coral reef of the west beach of Boracay and has observed, in a survey last November positive results. Mote Marine Laboratory has been a leader in marine research since it was founded in 1955," Rodriguez said.

Said Reefbud Artifical Technology will be evaluated as fish and invertebrate habitat and based on species abundance, diversity, ontogenic (embryonic) stage, colonization rates, and persistence over time. The study is designed to allow for a statistically robust evaluation.

"Testing and deployment of Reefbud modules will be implemented on two sites in the Gulf of Mexico at Sarasota and Lee County, Florida. Testing will be done over several year period so to evaluate viability and survivability of generated marine life. Total Cost of testing will amount to two million dollars," said Rodriguez.

Overall performance of the Reefbud will then be evaluated based on its ability to enhance the growth of a natural marine reef community.

Mote Marine Laboratory tested numerous types of possible Reef materials in the 80’s which results lead to the State of Florida’s policy of only allowing artificial reef material to be made of concrete or limestone. Mote Marine Laboratory stated that the purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the Reefbud modules, which are a newly designed artificial reef structure composed of organic and inorganic material, and compare its performance with other traditional materials used in the construction of artificial reefs.

Today Mote covers more than 200 acres at five locations, with an annual operating budget of US$ 23 million, a staff of about 250 and more than 1,400 volunteers. More than 400,000 people visit each year.

2014 seen as banner year for Boracay

The year 2014 is expected to be a banner year for Boracay tourism.

In an interview Monday, Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores said this is the gist of his State of the Province Address (SOPA) comes February 5 at the Aklan Provincial Capitol.

"The Aklan provincial government is robust to the tourism industry of Boracay," Miraflores said.

Among the considerations of 2014 as Aklan's banner year for tourism is that there are at least 10 international cruise ships expected to arrive in this resort island this year. The cruise ships arrivals are the highest number so far for Boracay.

Each cruise ship will bring thousands of foreign and local tourists to the island. Also, airline companies from Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and others have expressed interest in holding direct chartered flights to Boracay via the Kalibo International Airport.

The Department of Tourism also reported that 2014 is a year of preparation for the hosting of 2015 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation.